Join Vulture’s Oscars Live Blog With Critics David Edelstein and Bilge Ebiri

After what has seemed like a never-ending awards campaign, it's Oscars night. Will Leo finally get his? Will Chris Rock be funny? Will Iñárritu repeat? Will the diverse array of presenters the Academy has lined up contrast uncomfortably with the lily-white nature of the nominees?

While you wait for these questions and more to be answered, watch the big show with Vulture film critics David Edelstein and Bilge Ebiri. They'll be live-blogging the Oscars right here, delivering facts, responding to questions, and reminding everyone of all the movies and performances that got robbed. Join them starting at 8 p.m., and remain with them through the announcement of the first three-way tie in Best Picture history.

David Edelstein: Very political Oscars and I love that! Go diversity! Bless you all, my friends. Keep reading Vulture/NY Mag. Keep in touch.

Bilge Ebiri: Thanks David. This was a hectic, fun way to make my official exit at Vulture. (Those who don't know yet - I'm going to the Village Voice to be their film critic. But Vulture will always be my family.)

David Edelstein: Thank you all for staying with us on this wild ride. Lowest yield Best Picture ever! -only 2 awards. Bilge, go with God. You're one of the great film critics and and I'm thrilled at your success.Everyone follow him at the VV. Good guys win!!!!!!

Bilge Ebiri: Public Enemy playing over the end credits. Awesome.

Bilge Ebiri: Well, all in all I'm okay with this year's winners, though the award I most wanted to see was George Miller winning Best Director. He'll probably never be up there again, but we'll see.

David Edelstein: You rock Bilge. I didn't have the faith.

David Edelstein: Gio called this

Bilge Ebiri: SPOTLIGHT wins. I had actually predicted this, with very little confidence.

David Edelstein: SPOTLIGHT!!!!!!

David Edelstein: HOORAY!!!!!!!!!

David Edelstein: WHAT????????

Giovanni: Big upset coming? Will there be any surprises tonight?

David Edelstein: Let us not take this planet for granted,.. but we can take a win for The Revenant for granted, sadly

Bilge Ebiri: I forgot about de Oliveira. I thought he'd died in 2014. Yeah, major omission.

David Edelstein: Those who attacked Kirby Dick... I hope they're curled up in a ball now. And I'm sorry that Vulture actually ran a takedown of it, too. Bad move.

Bilge Ebiri: Great performance of a great song from a great, important movie. It'd be nice if it didn't lose to that garbage Sam Smith song from SPECTRE.

Sray: The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliviera, mostly known as the formerly oldest living director, was left off the In Memoriam segment, too.

David Edelstein: Everyone needs to see The Hunting Ground. Especially if you have a kid in college or are in college. .Male or female.

Bilge Ebiri: It was a beautiful speech, certainly.

David Edelstein: I'm not sure I agree Bilge. He handled it with delicacy.

Bilge Ebiri: Joe Biden's impassioned speech about rape and abuse and his intro of Lady Gaga are actually related, but whoever wrote that intro forgot to make it clear. And I think that transition confused people.

David Edelstein: lot of ignorant apologists attacked Kirby Dick's film. I won't name them. But I am glad to see it mentioned here. (Biden-Warren 2016?)

Stephanie: #OscarsSoRude

David Edelstein: They better not play him off with Wagner... THEY STARTED TO!

David Edelstein: Perhaps that movie doesn't deserve an Oy, but I have some reservations about it

David Edelstein: Oy.

Bilge Ebiri: SON OF SAUL is the favorite but I'd be SO happy to see MUSTANG win. Or THEEB.

Bilge Ebiri: Louis CK giving out doc short. Hilarious. "These people will never be rich for as long as they live."

Bilge Ebiri: I knew a guy who worked with Rourke on a couple of movies, who said at the time of THE WRESTLER that there was no way in hell anyone who had ever worked with Rourke would vote for him for an award.

Bilge Ebiri: What God is to the Grammys, Spielberg is to the Oscars.

David Edelstein: When Murphy was nominated, Hollywood was abuzz with the news that he almost never stayed to act with co-stars for their reaction shots. Reynolds was generally loathed for being a pain. Rourke... guess. Stallone...guess

Bilge Ebiri: I'm still tickled by that lady in the Chris Rock bit who said, sincerely, that her favorite white movie last year was BY THE SEA. It actually is a way better movie than its reputation. Flawed, but very much worth it. IMO, of course.

mycupoftea: Rylance, so richly deserved!

David Edelstein: Apparently Spielberg is the most thanked person ever in the Oscars

Bilge Ebiri: David, we have our answer. Stallone joins Mickey Rourke and Eddie Murphy in the ranks of people whom the industry remembers actually having to work with.

David Edelstein: I am surprised that Rylance got this. But it is a sign of general dislike for Stallone's collective work.

Bilge Ebiri: RYLANCE!

David Edelstein: Rylance was so great--he showed how powerful minimalism can be in the hands of a maximalist.

Bilge Ebiri: I think Patricia Arquette is still burned by her experience last year and was trying not to say anything wrong (or "problematic," ugh.)

Bilge Ebiri: Best Supporting Actor next. I guess this is Sly's. Unless it isn't!

Bilge Ebiri: Yeah, I was wondering that, below.

David Edelstein: Rock did a similar bit the last time he hosted, btw.

David Edelstein: The chasm between white and black moviegoers is great.

Bilge Ebiri: Didn't Chris Rock do this bit the last time he hosted?

Bilge Ebiri: It did fine financially, as I recall.

Bilge Ebiri: It's interesting how Bridge of Spies was such a quiet Oscar nominee. Usually a Spielberg movie has a lot more marketing aura around it. Very good movie, though.

David Edelstein: Reese seems still to be sober.

Bilge Ebiri: And Mickey Rourke... I'm predicting a Ruffalo upset, but I will be wrong.

David Edelstein: So... Stallone is going to win, right? Unless there is residual hatred of him a la Eddie Murphy and Burt Reynolds in their respective comeback years.

Bilge Ebiri: This spot for The Family looks like a fake trailer.

David Edelstein: hash tag goes at the beginning apparently

Bilge Ebiri: Blame Auto-correct!

David Edelstein: I embarrassed myself by spelling Weekend wrong. dadsowhiteandold#

Bilge Ebiri: I was gonna say.

David Edelstein: I don't think

David Edelstein: Not that she is having sex.

KLD: Wanna talk Oscar sexism: a man would never be hanging from the rafters in lingerie.

David Edelstein: The Weekend makes good sex music says my 17 year old daughter.

David Edelstein: great f--ing congratulations? what was bleeped?

David Edelstein: I love Pete Docter. No one played him off either. Pixar could employ them

David Edelstein: I'm thrilled about Inside Out but I don't trust Buzz Lightyear to have read that card correctly.

Bilge Ebiri: It is worth noting that, once upon a time, most of the films in the Top 10 box office winners of all time had John Williams scores. That man shaped so much of modern cinema.

David Edelstein: In other business, Marco Rubio accused Donald Trump of having a small dick. ("short-fingered vulgarian" reference)

Bilge Ebiri: Interesting. I must admit, I had that sense memory with THE PHANTOM MENACE. Less so with this one. I was surprised at how little an impact the score made on me this time, actually.

David Edelstein: What is interesting re: Williams is that for all the money Disney spent promoting it, nothing worked on me in a Pavlovian way like the memory of that score.

Bilge Ebiri: Good point.

Bilge Ebiri: He's won plenty of Oscars, too. Not all of them deserved.

Guest: I thought it was nice of them to recognize John Williams. 50 noms is a lot

David Edelstein: Bilge, it was Disney plugging its own

Bilge Ebiri: That droids bit was weird.

ProfessorQbert: Ha! I love how Jacob Tremblay jumped up on seeing the droids.

David Edelstein: Bear tweets: Oscarssoandroid#

David Edelstein: I think Academy members liked looking at Alicia's body

Guest: Bear was overexposed... backlash

David Edelstein: I'm pissed on the bear's behalf, actually

David Edelstein: Upset! The bear is PISSED

Bilge Ebiri: EX MACHINA! Upset!

David Edelstein: This has to be The Revenant for the bear.

Bilge Ebiri: VFX next. Star Wars? Mad Max? Revenant?

David Edelstein: Best anti-Trump joke of the night so far.

Bilge Ebiri: YES!!

Bilge Ebiri: Great to give Andy Serkis his moment like this.

David Edelstein: Everyone needs to see that Andy Serkis montage.

David Edelstein: I'm no Oscarologist. Failed my boards.

Jay: Hey David and Blige the Academy DOES listen to you Oscarologists!

David Edelstein: Guess I'm wrong.

Bilge Ebiri: It happens. I think it happened with HUGO.

David Edelstein: Mixing might be the Revenant.

Guest: At this point it's looking like any movie beating out Mad Max will be an upset. Directing is still up, but has there ever been a film that raked up this many of the technical awards and still lost Best Picture?

Bilge Ebiri: I love that they're not saying the names of the films when showing the clips. Letting the sound have its moment.

Bilge Ebiri: Sound mixing next. I'm not picking winners anymore.

Bilge Ebiri: It was bleeped out. I'm pretty sure.

David Edelstein: Was something just bleeped or was it a glitch n my cable?

Guest: the nominee montages are really on point this year! (with the exception of best pic)

Bilge Ebiri: I always love the clips/effects they use for Sound Editing.

ProfessorQbert: This is actually an excellent demonstration of sound editing

David Edelstein: Max or Revenant or SW?

Bilge Ebiri: Sound awards coming up.

David Edelstein: It might be time to Publicly Shame whoever came up with Ride of the Valkyries and directed the conductor to lay it on with a trowel. The speeches are NOT the boring parts of the Oscars

Marcus D'Arcy: Only credits to Sixel are Happy Feet and babe. Good to see her win an Oscar for a non animal led film."

Guest: A winner just "thanked" his one week old child. My father was a newspaper publisher and he NEVER thanked me for an Op-Ed he wrote. #Makeitaboutsomething # selfimportantbreeders

Bilge Ebiri: David - your old colleague Mike Rezendes

David Edelstein: Oscarologists ... program won't let me spell it even

hehud: Yay Benicio del Toro, apparently there are people who are more than "white" or "black" left in the world! Chris Rock's hosting was making me doubt my existence.

David Edelstein: exactly. Maybe they read more bloggers or (excuse me while I poop my pants) "Oscarogists."

Mick: It does...

Bilge Ebiri: This whole extended awards-season run-up has been very weird indeed. It SHOULD help the Academy voters see more of the films...but I'm not sure it does.

David Edelstein: But would anyone click on climate change odds?

David Edelstein: What is interesting is that the awards themselves have been the subject of so much blah blah blah (Vulture I think does it better than everyone but...) that this all seems to be happening a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Bilge Ebiri: Agreed. Once upon a time, they were clips. I liked those.

David Edelstein: I hate when "clips" are from trailers.

Bilge Ebiri: They'll be back...

Guest: How could the Academy not indulge a Winslet/di Caprio dual victory for the ultimate end to this awards season of Titanic reunions?

Bilge Ebiri: I am under no illusions that FURY ROAD will take home Best Picture, so let me enjoy this moment, please.

David Edelstein: Has someone called off Robert Duvall and the choppers?

David Edelstein: Drink every time an Oscar speech begins with "Wow."

David Edelstein: Stop gloating, Bilge. It ends now.

Bilge Ebiri: Make that three Oscars for FURY ROAD.

David Edelstein: Your fault for going to the Voice.

Bilge Ebiri: I still say Jared Leto's best performance is his 90 seconds in THE THIN RED LINE.

David Edelstein: not with us I hope

Bilge Ebiri: I am happy that MAD MAX has two Oscars so far. I am happy that my posts are now public.

Irene Richard: I'm already bored

David Edelstein: Donald Trump tweeted to ask if Obama was in charge of the Oscars. F--ktard,

David Edelstein: Second funnest job would be production designer on Mad Max,

David Edelstein: The playing off has to stop. I want to play the producer into a pit.

brothernature: Jenny Bevan's jacket is awesome, and she seems to be, as well.

Guest: Mad Max may be the one of the most overrated movies ever. Besides, The Road Warrior is so much better.

David Edelstein: Costuming Mad Max must have been the most fun job in the world.

Bilge Ebiri: First award for MAD MAX. I hope the first of many. Who knows if my comment will ever appear.

ProfessorQbert: Mad Max is the only movie nominated that stars a former WWE wrestler.

Bilge Ebiri: I'M TRYING!!

zoothornrollo77: (Humor is still the best weapon against ignorance.)

Foolish one: It's also by far the worst Bond song ever.

David Edelstein: You have to hit PUBLIC. IT'S ANNOYING

zoothornrollo77: I'm hopeful that he makes us uncomfortable. While laughing.

Guest: This is amazing. He's speaking so much truth about racism in America, not just Hollywood. Casual racism. In denial racism.

Guest: cringeworthy to hear the crowd laugh at these jokes

Chorl: Chris Rock wearing a white tux, interesting

Guest: I love the fact that nobody is safe from Chris Rock's shade.

Bilge Ebiri: David, what Chris Rock is doing right now is proving what you just said a few posts ago re: comedy and Oscars. He's showing that "comedy can be a hugely moral and political force."

David Edelstein: See, he's TALKING to us. "Sorority racist." These beads are strung.

David Edelstein: One of the best ever... so far

Bilge Ebiri: This is a beautiful opening. Just gonna say that right now.

zoothornrollo77: Rock just "went there." (Good for him.)

David Edelstein: In memoriam: Black people shot by the cops on the way to the movies.

Bilge Ebiri: Wow. Surprisingly political opening by Chris Rock. Giving it to both sides!

David Edelstein: Rock is putting this in a historical context and making us laugh together about it. "Too busy being raped and lynched to care about who win for best cinematographer..."

lisaworthy: so far Chris is killing it...

Bilge Ebiri: "No one with a job ever tells you to quit." - good line by Chris Rock. AND: "The last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart." Nice.

Adrian_Nguyen: First #OscarsSoWhite jab of the ceremony.

Bilge Ebiri: Chris Rock agrees with me!

David Edelstein: Margaret Lyons hated it. Spoilsport!

Bilge Ebiri: Brie's line from ROOM gets me every time, sorry.

Bilge Ebiri: A nice montage. And, of course, way more diverse than the nominees!

David Edelstein: Let's hear it for a clever montage of the year's movies, good and bad.

The Kenosha Kid: I can't wait to see the 'interpretive dance' of The Revenant.

Bilge Ebiri: DADDY'S HOME is better than THE REVENANT.

Adrian_Nguyen: Daddy's Home is in the opening montage.

Bilge Ebiri: Agreed. He was excellent. And it would have been nice to see him get another shot at the big guy.

David Edelstein: My pal Bill McKibben has tweeted that he is glad to see two very committed global warming activists on the red carpet--Leo and Ruffalo. Amen to that.

Strongone: I think that was the intention but not the outcome. Not that he wasn't good.... And I've always loved Keaton. I didn't see this film as really having a lead actor.

lisaworthy: I just hope he handles this distressing topic with grace as well as humor....

David Edelstein: Let's say a little prayer for Chris Rock to kill it tonight. And good luck to everyone. This is an artificial exercise and it should not be the be-all and end-all of lives.

lisaworthy: I agree with you David on Michael Keaton...he did some great work on that flick.

David Edelstein: But Mark is still with Sunrise.

hombreficcion: I was seeing the Fug Girls blog the other day and they had a special post about fashion in the 2006 ceremony; it was sad that many of the couples attending back then are no longer together. Just that. Wanted to express it.

David Edelstein: I am still upset that Michael Keaton did;t get a Best Actor nom. Because I think he's the heart of that movie--the dramatic fulcrum.

Bilge Ebiri: Somebody brought up category fraud in the comments. And I guess it kind of became a thing this year, with Rooney & Vikander being put in Supporting Actress, and the whole Globes “scandal” about THE MARTIAN being a comedy. But it happens all the time. I mean, was Michael Douglas really the *lead* in WALL STREET? The movie was about Charlie Sheen’s character. Was Forest Whitaker the lead in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND? Or Anthony Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS? But I guess this year the fraud was particularly egregious because it seemed driven by likelihood of winning, gaming the category, etc.

David Edelstein:... his liberal conscience

David Edelstein: It's a little unfortunate that Mark Ruffalo mixed lack of nominations for black actors with the black population in prisons. But kudos for...

Guest: There's a reason the reporters normally aren't allowed inside the theater. That was claw-your-eyes-out bad.

David Edelstein: I feel a song coming on

David Edelstein: I meant Sunrise.

David Edelstein: Mark Ruffalo has a wife named Sunshine. That is all.

David Edelstein: if anyone can help atl find out the name of that woman...

Bilge Ebiri: It's me. (I have no idea what you're talking about.)

Atl: Who is the wins in the background with the short green dress, white dots & fringe with mis-matched shoes?

David Edelstein: Amen to that, Bilge. Comedy is seen as flip. But comedy can be a hugely moral and political force.

Bilge Ebiri: I don't think it was the Globes, but that film's balloon did deflate a bit.

hombreficcion: My heart is with Winslet no matter what. But yep, Vikander will win. She probably deserves it, but let's not forget this outrageous and scandalous case of category fraud.

David Edelstein: The Globes... who knows about the Globes? Nutgalls.

Bilge Ebiri: Re: THE BIG SHORT. People always complain about how Oscars don't give enough love to comedy. But then whenever a comedy DOES get nominated, people complain a bit more that it doesn't deserve to be there.

Bilge Ebiri: And an onstage response from Sean Penn, aka El Chapo's Handmaiden, as I recall.

strongone: Matt Damon has much better performances in the Bourne films than in the comedy The Martian. BTW, do you think the Globes classifying it as a comedy has hurt its chances?

David Edelstein: Re: Chris Rock, yes, very much. His mistake was a riff on Jude Law getting all the parts over him that was a good idea but went on too long. It became awkward and earned him some rancor.

David Edelstein: Re: The Other Guys. I did a Q&A with McKay onstage and he said that he'd meant that movie to be a Wall Street satire and not a buddy cop movie. He failed, I'm afraid, although that movie had a strong political sub current. But he made up for it.

Bilge Ebiri: I think she had a really strong year (MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.!) which is probably one of the reasons why she'll win tonight.

Bilge Ebiri: David, were you a fan of Chris Rock's last Oscars hosting gig? I remember enjoying it a great deal, and then being surprised when it got poor reviews the next day.

David Edelstein: she was even better in Testament of Youth, which no one saw

Bilge Ebiri: STEP BROTHERS is a masterpiece. As is THE OTHER GUYS, which absolutely is one of the best films of its decade. These films are pretty much canon at this point, as far as I'm concerned.

Chorl: Vikander also being in Ex Machina helps her I think

David Edelstein: Bilge, people snicker when I saw that Stepbrothers is one of my favorite comedies of the last decade. But it is a triumph of improvisation.

Bilge Ebiri: I think Vikander is favored, but Winslet seems to have won a lot of the awards leading up.

Bilge Ebiri: Adam McKay is definitely some sort of genius. He already proved that with his Will Ferrell movies. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Bilge Ebiri: I went into THE BIG SHORT extremely skeptical, but it really did win me over. There are still parts of it that don't work for me, but I love so, so much of it. And I'm really wowed that they nailed the finance stuff, and didn't dumb it down too much.

Bilge Ebiri: I do think THE REVENANT winning that category over STAR WARS or MAD MAX would be considered an upset.

David Edelstein: Regarding The Big Short, it's unprecedented that a film has been such a weave of urgent journalism and comedy and drama. I know that not everyone loved it as much as I did, but I would give it an award for Best Syntax.

Bilge Ebiri: I guess its box office success would suggest otherwise. But THE REVENANT seems like a very divisive film, in many ways. Not really the kind of middle-of-the-road consensus-builder that’s tended to win in recent years. (See: ARGO or THE ARTIST or THE KING’S SPEECH or maybe even BIRDMAN.) That, plus the fact that Inarritu JUST won Picture and Director last year, is the reason why I still predict that it won’t win the big award. I’m picking SPOTLIGHT to win, with George Miller winning Best Director. I’d be happy to see THE BIG SHORT or ROOM or BROOKLYN win. And of course, I’d be ecstatic if FURY ROAD won…but that’s not gonna happen.

Wrekkinball: I just wish they would have Steve Harvey present Best Actor. When he reads Leo's name, everyone would be like "Is that a joke, or is he serious?"

Chorl: Would a Revenant beating Star Wars for Visual Effects be considered an upset?

Bilge Ebiri: I will admit, the recent surge of THE REVENANT as a front-runner has taken me completely by surprise. I’m on record as not liking the film much, so I’m biased and this should be taken with a grain of salt: But I’ve spoken to SO many people – ordinary people, not just critics – who didn’t like that film. And even many of those who DO like it agree that it’s also kind of bloated and flawed and far from a masterpiece.

David Edelstein: It breaks my heart that everyone is talking about The Revenant as the frontrunner. The Big Short and Room and Spotlight are much more important films.

Bilge Ebiri: But yeah, an unusually weak bunch of Best Actor nominees. And it wasn't that bad a year! There were many better male performances out there.

Bilge Ebiri: Good question! I think Saoirse Ronan for me, probably. And Fassbender for actor - out of that group.

David Edelstein: I do love Ser-sha, whose name I'm going to spell as it's pronounced. Charlotte Ramping talked herself out of an Oscar with her Oscars so white comments. I have no candidate for Best Actor. It's an unusually weak category.

Bilge Ebiri: So David, what are your predictions for tonight? I know you think Leo and Brie will win. Do you think that THE REVENANT will take it?

Guest: David and Bilge - If Leo and Brie weren't in the running, who would you choose to win amongst the other nominees?

David Edelstein: I'm curious what our readers predict will be the upset of the night? Let me know and I'll summarize.

David Edelstein: It's fascinating to look at Stallone's evolution. After Rocky--in which his father said he looked puny--he brought the camera up closer and bulked up ludicrously. He turned himself into a cartoon. Creed returned him to Philly, to the milieu. But yeah, he has done more harm to movies than good over the years.

Bilge Ebiri: Speaking of Stallone, I find it interesting that he's getting a "He's due" Oscar tonight, probably. Stallone movies were the bane of my existence for so many years. I find it odd that it is now accepted that he's due an Oscar. (I liked CREED a lot, btw, but he was the least interesting part of it for me.)

Wrekkinball: Speaking of prices, is Stallone sporting a toupee?

Guest: Good point. Rather like some Presidential candidates are mistaking muscle for intelligence.

David Edelstein: You'd need chemical help too if you'd been married to Noah Baumbach.

Guest: On a scale of 1 to Cheech and Chong, how stoned was Jennifer Jason Leigh on that red carpet tonight?

David Edelstein: Beyond their worth as films, it's the aesthetic that interests me. The relentlessness, the bullying. I know there's a moral rationale for Son of Saul, but I think it still mistakes muscle for imagination.

E.M.H: Test, test, OMG some folks on the 'net have bad things to say about Redmayne and Stallone, testing...

Bilge Ebiri: I just saw that piece. Thanks for the kind words in there, David. And I share your... well, can we say "discomfort" with the idea of both THE REVENANT and SON OF SAUL winning.

David Edelstein: By the way, Mental Floss has tweeted that first Oscar ceremony was 15 minutes long.

David Edelstein: Honestly, I thought that the ceremonies were beginning at 8 but it's 8:30 so by all means y'all send me thoughts I can share. Or check outThe Cut's live blog.

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